


you say we're just friends

by sunsetcurbed



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Interviews, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Time Jump, okay i know those tags look confusing, they'll make sense though i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28903938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetcurbed/pseuds/sunsetcurbed
Summary: "Alright, alright, this is actually taking me towards something here," James says, and the entire band looks at him. "The big question," he says, leaning forward in his seat, looking between all of the band members. "The real hunk of a question.""Alright," Luke nods along, drumming his hands in his lap."Are Julie and Luke dating?"
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 289





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So... YouTube suggested [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTcFgk6pFvQ) (an interview of Shawn Mendes watching back an old interview of him and Camila being asked if they were dating before they were dating) for me and watching that original interview... my mind just _screamed_ Juke. And so I immediately opened a word document and... here I am like... an hour and a half later? 
> 
> There's a chance I'm also going to write a part two of Luke watching that interview back since that's what started this. 
> 
> The intended interviewer is James Corden since that's who did the Shawn/Camila interview, but you can imagine any ol' interviewer you'd like. 
> 
> Title from Señorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello.

The screen fades in from black to show James sitting on the left side of the screen and the band, Julie and the Phantoms, sitting to his right.

"You guys are one of the hottest bands as of right now—having gone multiplatinum, earning three Grammy nominations, heading on a sold out world tour, a concert film to follow—you can't get much hotter than that." James says, shaking his head as the crowd cheers and the band on the couch looks to be literally vibrating with excitement next to him. "Guys, that's _incredible_."

" _Isn't it?_ " the one in plaid says—Luke Patterson. He's sat in between Julie Molina and Reggie Peters, and on the end next to Reggie is Alex Mercer. All four of them are on the edges of their seats, leaning their elbows on their knees. "Our second album and we've already reached this level of success its…" he looks at the others. "I don't think we ever could have dreamed it up."

"Even if we could have it wouldn't have been this fast," Alex says. "We were literally playing in a garage two years ago."

"Yeah, yeah," Reggie jumps in. "Like, okay, two albums, great, we have so much more music, we've been writing for years, we have enough music for five or six albums. Going on tour, that was always the plan. The tour selling out? That was just—that was just incredible."

"And getting our nominations and going _multiplatinum?_ " Julie shakes her head. "Unbelievable. It's unreal."

"No, no," James says, "it's _very_ real. That's amazing though! Two years ago you were in a garage?"

"Yup," Luke nods. He tosses an arm around Julie and pulls her in. "We practically lived in Jules's garage from the time we were freshman in high school until we graduated and got paid. Because they signed us during our senior year, so we moved out on our own as soon as we could."

"Well, most of us," Reggie says.

"Julie still lives with her family," Alex says. "But us guys live together."

"That's sweet that you still live with your family," James says, smiling at Julie. "Or could you just not stand living with these three?"

"A little bit of both?" she laughs. "I'm really close with my family and I know with touring I won't see them often, so I want to spend time with them when I can. But also I'm at the guys' place nearly every day and I could never imagine living there. I clean up after them enough without living there."

"Hey, we do pretty good!" Luke frowns.

"I found a pizza box under your bed last month, Luke," Julie says, gagging. "There were still two pieces of pizza in it."

Luke furrows his eyebrows together. "Yeah, that was pretty nasty."

"Alright, alright, this is actually taking me towards something here," James says, and the entire band looks at him. "The big question," he says, leaning forward in his seat, looking between all of the band members. "The real hunk of a question."

"Alright," Luke nods along, drumming his hands in his lap.

"Are Julie and Luke dating?"

Julie and Luke throw their heads back and groan at the same time Reggie barks out a laugh and Alex bounces in his seat, pointing at James. " _Yes!_ " he screams, drawing his hand back and thrusting it forward as he repeatedly points at the interviewer. "Asking the _real_ questions, _thank you_."

"Oh, shut up," Luke says, waving Alex off.

"No," Alex says. "Well, actually, okay, because I'd _love_ to hear the answer to this."

Luke rolls his eyes and looks back at James. "No, we're not."

James raises his eyebrows. He flicks his eyes between Luke's face and his arm that's resting on the couch behind Julie. "Really? Because you two look quite cozy—"

" _Really_ ," Julie says.

"Yeah," James says. "You look like a proper couple."

"Proper couple'a best friends," Luke grins, hooking his arm around Julie's neck and dragging her in closer to him.

"No," James says, monotone. "Like a couple who is dating. Alright, who is Perfect—"

"We're really not dating—"

"Who is Perfect Harmony abo—"

"I don't know what we can say, we're just not dating—"

"Who did you write Perfect Har—"

"We've never even considered dating, he's my best friend—"

"Perfect Harmony, who is it ab—"

"She's like the mom friend of the group, she keeps me in line—"

"Who is Perfect Harmony—"

" _Mom friend?_ I'm the _mom friend?_ I'm the—yeah, okay, yeah I'm the mom friend."

"Who's Perfect Harmony about?" James demands, looking between the two of them, now that there's finally a beat of silence. Alex sits off to the side with a grin that looks like it must ache, and Reggie looks absolutely bewildered at the display of voices that had just gone on. "You're the only two on the writing credit for that song—"

"Despite popular belief, it _is_ possible to write a song without a specific source of inspiration," Luke says, leaning towards James like he's sharing a secret, but in doing so he leans in Julie's space, making James look even less convinced.

"Oh _please_ ," James laughs. "I bet you two wrote it about one another without even knowing it."

"Oh, did we?" Luke asks at the same time Alex laughs, "I am _loving_ this."

"I think Luke wrote it about me," Reggie says, cupping his face in his hands like an angel.

Alex nudges Reggie with his elbow. "Dude, don't help them out of this."

"No, no, no, Reggie, help us out of this," Julie pleads.

Reggie looks between Alex and Julie with wide eyes. "I-I-I don't know what to do, I'm equally scared of both of you."

"Now, wait a minute," James jumps back in. " _Julie_ , why do you need help out of this?"

"Because _someone_ doesn't believe me and Luke," she says with a roll of her eyes.

"You're going to have to be more specific because I think the majority of your fans don't believe Luke and you," James presses. "I mean, you have heard of _Juke_ , right?"

"Yeah," Luke nods. "And I've also heard of Lalex but Willie would straight up flatten me with his skateboard if I tried making a move on his boyfriend."

"I don't know, man," Reggie says clapping a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Given how Willie and Alex met, flattening you with his skateboard could be seen as Willie making a move."

"We're getting off track," Alex jumps in, leaning around Reggie to look at his other two band mates. "Willex is going strong, now I want to hear about Juke."

" _Alex!_ " Julie cries.

Alex pulls a face, flattening his lips together and pulling them back in a poorly disguised smirk. "You two always say we need to give the people what they want—"

" _Musically!_ " Luke yells, reaching over Reggie to shove at Alex. Reggie leans back into the couch, eyes wide and mouth turned into a deep frown.

"You two are awfully sensitive about this, aren't you?" James laughs from his chair. Julie buries her face in her hands and Luke sits back in his seat and shifts so his entire right side is pressed against hers. He presses his knee against hers, and she pushes hers back into his. "You're also awfully comfortable for a non-couple."

"To be fair Luke is one of the most tactile people you'll meet," Reggie says.

"I do have to—reluctantly—agree with that," Alex sighs. "We once found him cuddling with our lights designer while we were waiting to go on stage."

"But it's like everyone else is a substitute for Julie," Reggie adds. "She's his first choice."

"Dude! I thought you were on our side," Julie pouts.

"I'm on the side of truth and chaos. And truth that causes chaos."

"Alright, let's talk about this," James says, scooting forward so he's sat at the edge of his chair. "I think—"

"Oh god," Julie groans, falling forward so she's folded in half, her hair curtaining around her head and hiding her from everyone. Luke drops his hand from the back of the couch to rub her back soothingly. Julie mumbles something that no one hears, and Luke leans forward, asking her to repeat it. "I _said_ , don't touch me, James is only going to use that against us."

Luke laughs. "I'd rather have a rumor that we're dating than not comfort my best friend."

"Alright, now we've _really_ got to talk about this." James leans down so he's closer to Julie. "I think that the two of you," he says motioning between Luke and Julie, "love each other, but that you're scared of how it might affect the band."

" _I think_ that Julie and I are just friends—"

"I don't _believe_ you're just friends—"

"I don't—I don't care," Luke laughs. "I don't know what to tell you, man."

"The truth!"

"I've been _trying!_ " Luke yells at the same time Julie shoots up and yells "we've been _trying!_ "

"Alex? Reggie?"

"They tell us the same thing," Alex sighs. "We find it equally as hard to believe but in all the years we've known each other we've never lied to one another, at least not knowingly," he shares a look with Reggie who smirks knowingly at Alex, "so. We can't help you here, James."

James drops his head to hang between his shoulders. "So disappointing. Can you _hear_ the hearts breaking?" he asks Julie and Luke.

"It's deafening," Julie deadpans.

"I can't hear myself think over how loud it is," Luke adds in the same tone.

"You could end it all—"

Julie turns to the camera. "And that's all the time we have today, folks! Thanks for watch—"

"All right, all right!" James huffs, waving his hand in front of Julie. "Don't—don't send them _away!_ You've still got a performance!" He looks at the camera. "Don't listen to the lying liar, stay tuned because we've got a performance of _Finally Free_ coming up after this!" He looks back at Julie and Luke and as the camera and audio fade out, asks, "okay, now that the cameras are off, give it to me seriously…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi that didn't take long. 
> 
> I know this entire thing is really short, but. It's just a lil fluff piece for y'all that I wanted to get out of my head.

The camera and audio fade in slowly, showing three men on stage and revealing a cheering audience in the background. James is sitting in his usual spot as the interviewer while the guests sit to his right on the couch. On the couch are Luke and Alex from Julie and the Phantoms. Julie and Reggie are absent.

"Welcome back, welcome back! And Luke and Alex, welcome back! It is so good to see you again."

"Yeah, it's good to see you too," Alex grins.

"It's been a while," James says. "You've been on two sold out world tours since I've last seen you and Alex, you've gotten married—"

"I have."

"How is that going?"

Alex grins and runs his fingers through his hair, clearly showing off his wedding ring as he does so. Luke rolls his eyes next to him. "It's going pretty great, James."

"You married our friend Willie."

"I did."

"I heard he skateboarded down the aisle."

Alex smiles. "He absolutely did."

"Did he really?!"

"No," Alex says, lifting his hands and giving James an exasperated look. "No, he—we may have considered it, but in the end we decided against it. It didn't help that the aisle was a piece of carpet on top of grass, so that… probably wouldn't have ended well for anyone."

"But you were genuinely considering it?" James asks.

"We were genuinely considering it. You know, I played with the band, so we wanted to see if we could some how manage to fit either his skating or acting into the wedding somehow. You… don't wanna hear what we considered with his acting. Our guests would have hated us. So much second hand embarrassment."

"Oh, now you've gotta tell us!"

"Nope," Alex shakes his head. "Can't. Those ideas are staying between Willie and I."

"Oh, _fine_ ," James pouts. "But—you're not the only one with a romantic happening."

"I'm not."

"Luke?"

Luke looks up from where he was picking at his nails. "Yes, James?"

"You're engaged."

"Yes, James."

"To Julie."

"Yes, James."

"Julie Molina."

"Yes, James."

"I have an early wedding present for you."

Luke's eyes narrow and he looks wary. "Okay…"

James motions to the screen.

_JAMES: The big question. The real hunk of a question._

Luke immediately groans. "Oh, no."

Alex claps his hands beside Luke and falls back into the couch, a blissful look on his face. "This is the best thing to ever happen to me."

"I'm telling Willie that my embarrassment beats out your wedding day on you best things to ever happen to you list," Luke mutters.

"Oh, Willie will a hundred percent support that."

_JAMES: Are Julie and Luke dating?_

_ALEX: Yes! Asking the real questions! Thank you!_

"I can't believe you betrayed us so harsh back then," Luke frowns, shooting a glare at the Alex on the screen. The Alex sitting next to Luke on the couch claps a hand onto his shoulder, which he immediately shrugs off.

_LUKE: No, we're not._

_JAMES: Really? Because you two look quite cozy—_

_JULIE: Really?_

_JAMES: Yeah. You look like a proper couple._

_LUKE: Proper couple'a best friends._

"Ugh," Luke groans, falling forward and collapsing over his knees. " _God,_ shut it off, shut it _off_."

"No, let's keep watching," Alex says.

"Yeah, we're going to keep watching," James agrees. He reaches over and taps Luke's shoulder. "Sit up, you're missing out on your wedding present."

"I'm returning my wedding present, I don't want my wedding present, this _wasn't on the registry!_ "

_[voices speaking over one another for a good ten or fifteen seconds until there's a break]_

_JAMES: Who's Perfect Harmony about? You're the only two on the writing credit for that song—_

_LUKE: Despite popular belief it is possible to write a song without a specific source of inspiration._

"We're all friends here, tell me," James says, speaking over the interview and Luke looks nervous, " _did_ you write Perfect Harmony about Julie? And her about you?"

Alex laughs and claps a hand on Luke's shoulder, who groans but doesn't shake it off. "Oh, god. I-I don't. I don't know. Yeah? I-I mean… yeah. I've been in love with Julie practically since I've met her. I mean—'we say we're friends, we play pretend'—it's pretty straightforward. 'Shook me to the core, voice like an angel, 've never heard before' was literally the first reaction I had to hearing her sing. I still stand by what I said—you can write without drawing from a specific source of inspiration. Perfect Harmony… just… wasn't an example of that."

"He admits it!" Alex cheers from next to him.

Luke shoves Alex over and leans onto him, digging an elbow into his side. "We literally asked you to help us record it for our first dance, I admitted it a long time ago."

In the background, the interview continues to play.

_ALEX: You two always say we need to give the people what they want—_

_LUKE: Musically!_

_JAMES: You two are awfully sensitive about this, aren't you? You're also awfully comfortable for a non-couple._

"Now, was that what helped you figure it out? Being so close physically?" James asks. "Because you two were… awfully close…"

Luke shakes his head, straightening his hair back out after his horseplay with Alex. "No—"

_ALEX: We once found him cuddling with our lights designer while we were waiting to go on stage._

He points at the interview. "I'm a touchy person. If anything it made it harder because I was treating her—physically—the same as I treated everyone else."

"Emotionally was a different story," Alex says behind a hand in a poor imitation of a whisper to James.

"Now what do you mean by that? What do you mean emotionally things were different?"

"It's just…"

_LUKE: I'd rather have a rumor that we're dating than not comfort my best friend_.

"Things like that. I cared so much more about her well being than anyone else's, even my own," he admits. He looks down at his hands and then shoots a sideways glance at the screen, where he's still comforting a past distressed-Julie. "It was obvious after a while that Julie came before everything else in my life. Keeping her happy and well was my number one priority. And I was—am—way, way emotionally invested in that."

_JAMES: I don't believe you're just friends—_

_LUKE: I don't—I don't care. I don't know what to tell you, man._

_JAMES: The truth!_

_JULIE & LUKE: (I/We)'ve been trying!_

The screen fades to black and Luke shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Well this is awkward," he says.

James crosses his arms and raises his eyebrows at Luke. On Luke's other side, Alex imitates James' pose and stares him down with crossed arms and arched eyebrows as well. Luke looks between them. "What?!"

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Alex asks. "Do you have any idea what you put us through?"

"Do you have any idea what I put _myself_ through?" Luke shoots back. "I've known Julie for—what, twelve years, been in love with her the entire time but I've only been with her for four of those years? Congrats, Patterson," he says, patting himself on the back. "Great job there."

"Yes, and _we_ had to watch when you weren't together," Alex says.

"The whole world had to watch and suffer," James says, shaking his head solemnly.

"Waiting for you to pull your heads out of your a—butts," Alex finishes.

Luke ducks his chin into his chest. "… I'm sorry?"

"Damn right you're sorry," Alex huffs.

"How did it feel watching that?" James wonders. "Now that you two figured it all out, was that as embarrassing for you now as it was for us then?"

"Probably even worse for me now," Luke admits. "God, you could see it plain as day, I don't know how I lasted so long with out Jules figuring it out. And to think it went on almost another entire year after that? Oof—that's just. That's _embarrassing_."

"It took another _year?_ "

"It _did_ ," Alex groans. "And it was even worse because I think that interview brought it to both of their attentions."

"So you're saying… I played a part in getting _Juke_ together," James says.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, James," Alex says.

James turns to the camera. "And that's the coolest I'll ever be, that's all we have time for right now, wait until we come back—we've got a performance of _Unsaid Emily_ by Luke Patterson and Alex Mercer of Julie and the Phantoms!"

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is super short, but. I still wanted to post it. 
> 
> Find me at [sunsetcurbed](https://sunsetcurbed.tumblr.com) on tumblr!


End file.
